Senate Republicans on Monday officially unveiled details of their proposal for the latest round of coronavirus stimulus, officially igniting last-minute negotiations overshadowed by a …
Senate Republicans on Monday officially unveiled details of their proposal for the latest round of coronavirus stimulus, officially igniting last-minute negotiations overshadowed by a still-turbulent economy. The GOP plan includes roughly $1 trillion in new spending meant primarily to shore up the flagging market, as unemployment persists over 10 percent. At the same time, it sets a far less expansive spending agenda than the House Democrats’ plan that was introduced in May and contains over $3 trillion in spending proposals. That sets up what is likely to be a chaotic week of inter-party and inter-branch negotiations. Congress will face additional pressure thanks to the pending expiration of the earlier-passed federal expansion of unemployment insurance, which will elapse at the end of the month. Yet that same expansion, as well as other proposed measures, may run afoul of opposition even within the Senate GOP, particularly among fiscal hawks wary of an exploding deficit. The proposal’s most contentious portion is likely to be its changes to federal supplementation of unemployment insurance. In August and September, the GOP plan will guarantee payment of $200 per month to those on unemployment over and above their state payments; in October that would transition to guaranteeing wage replacement of 70 percent to those without a job, up to $500 a month.
